Helping prostate cancer patients and their families make more informed choices.
A prostate cancer “report card” which clearly outlines the outcomes of various treatments is being developed to help prostate cancer patients and their families make more informed choices.
The report card will evaluate survival, cancer recurrence, secondary treatment and impacts on urinary, bowel and sexual function for different treatments based on the experiences of men previously diagnosed with prostate cancer.
It is being developed by Dr Kerri Beckmann from the University of South Australia with funding from APC, using data from the South Australian Prostate Cancer Clinical Outcomes Collaborative (SA-PCCOC) registry.
“Treatment decisions for men with prostate cancer are complex. Options include surgery, radiotherapy, active surveillance and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), or a combination of these, with each having a different profile of benefits and risks,” Dr Beckmann said.
“We are so grateful for this generous grant from APC so we can develop the report card as a consumer-friendly resource to inform treatment decision-making.”
Dr Beckmann said choices were often guided by individual preferences, so evidence from “real world data” can help guide decision making. That’s where the SA-PCCOC registry comes in, which has data on more than 17,000 men to guide research!
“The report card will present a range of clinical and functional outcomes for each of the main treatment options for different risk categories, using data from the registry for men with localised prostate cancer,” Dr Beckmann said.
“SA-PCCOC is one of the best sources of data in Australia to assess all relevant outcomes simultaneously, since it collects follow-up PSA measures and assesses patient reported outcomes for physical functioning at baseline as well as after treatment.”
The final version of the report card aims to be distributed to clinicians as a resource for their patients and concerned family members. We look forward to keeping you updated!
